Camming article clamp



. Y L 20, 1953 1... P. PETRUSCHELL 2,656,140

CAMMING ARTICLE CLAMP Filed Jan. 29, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

lizcz'as P. Petrusc/zell ail,

A ORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNJITED STATES PATENT orrrcisf CAMMING ARTICLECLAMP Lucius P: Petruschel'l, Mount Dora, Fla, assignor to DictaphoneComputation, Bridgeport, Gonna. a corporation. of. New York ApplicationJanuary 29, 19,48, Serial No. 5,106

2 Claims...

This invention relates to a cradle construction which advantageously canbe used on a diotating machine for supporting the microphone unit whenthe machine is not inuse, and the invention will be described in oneform which it may take when embodied in a dictating machine. Other usesand adaptations of the invention will 'be apparent and will suggestthemselves from time to time.

The usual ofiice dictating machine commonly includes a recording: andreproducing mechanism, and a sound receiving and transmitting mouthpieceinto which the user dictates and which, when it is not in use; normallyrests upon a cradle at the end of an armpivoted upon and forming a partof the machine. Usually the arm carrying the cradle is spring-biased sothat when the cradle is not supporting the mouthpiece, the cradle armcloses a switch in the electrical systern of the machine to conditionit. for operation. When the mouthpiece is resting in the cradle,however, this switch is thrown toits alternate position.

Some dictating machines are provided with a sound receiving microphoneintended tov remain permanently at rest on a. desk, or elsewhere in the.room, and; to record voices anywhere. within a given range.--ottenanywhere in the room. These machines are provided with a hand controlunit. which normally rests in a conventional cradle. on the machine.When the unit isv removed from, the cradle, the. machine is automatically conditioned for operation. When a button the hand control unit isdepressed the machine actually records or reproduces, depending: uponhow the operator has set certain other controls on the. panel of. the.machine.

It; will be appreciated, therefore, that a hand unit sometimes willinclude only the control button, but that often it will include amicrophone 013 Sound receiver-reproducer, depending upon the model.Hereinafter when the expression hand unit is used. it will. beunderstood as including within its: scope. either a, hand control unitper se, or any of. the usual combinations of sound recording andreproducing microphones and hand control assemblies.

In ordinary use the dictator removes the hand unit from. its cradle orrestores it to its position of rest. perhaps many times in the course ofan hour; the.- motions of lifting the unit from the cradle andrestoring, it, thereto naturally become more or less automatic.

In. recent years dictating. machines have been made to: perform. moreand more. functions auto matically. One result has been that the handunit has developed intoa relatively delicate mechanism in itself;whereas originally it was little more than part of a speaking tube.Because of the fact, however, that the hand: unit now almost alwaysincludes various electrical components and often includes acomparatively delicate combination microphone and loudspeaker, it isimportant that this unit be. protected against unnecessary jars and,insofar as possible, against all routine abuses. Accordingly, the cradlein which the unit. rests should be one from which it will not: readilybe dislodged accidentally, for falls to the floorwould shorten its lifeand impair its utility. On theother hand, if the machine is. to be suchthat the. ordinary dictator can use it. easily and more or less 3111-!tomatically, the hand unit and: its. cradlev must be such that the unitcan readily be withdrawn from its position of rest, put into. use, andagain returned to. its position of rest without requiringany particularthought or care on the part of the operator. Heretofore some difficultyhas been encountered in providing and maintaining a cradle which wouldsecurely hold the hand unit when it was not in use, thus assuringagainstaccidental dislodgement, and which at the same time cleanlyrelease the unit. in response to the more or less unconscious movementsof the operator in reaching for it and grasping it.

1 have devised a cradle which by its very nae ture holds the hand unitsecurely when it is at rest and which readily receives or cleanly re.-leases the hand unit in response to the automatic movements of theoperator.

It is an object of my invention to provide a cradle construction of thecharacter described having to a notable extent the capabilities andcharacteristics set forth. A further objective is to provide a cradlewhich will secure a. dictating machine hand unit against accidentaldislodgement and. which at the same time will readily accommodate itselfto the more or less unconscious, routine movements of the operator. Afurther objective resides in the provision of a phonograph cradleconstruction which overcomes certain of the disadvantages inherent inthe cradle constructions heretofore known. Other objects will in part bepointed out as the description proceeds and will in partbecome apparenttherefrom.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, methods of operation and arrangements of partsas will be exemplified in the structure and sequences and groups ofrelated steps to be hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be set forth in the accompanying claims.

In the specification and the accompanying drawings I have shown anddescribed a preferred embodiment of my invention and suggested variousmodifications thereof; but it is to be understood that these are notintended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but, on thecontrary, are given for purposes of illustration in order that othersskilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principlesthereof and the manner of applying it in various forms, each as may bebest suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a cradle and cradle arm assembly embodyin myinvention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembly illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is perspective view of a dictating machine which I use by wayof example and in which has been incorporated the cradle assemblyillustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line44 of Figure 2 with parts broken away;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line55 of Figure 2 with parts broken away; and

Figure 6 is a sectional View on an enlarged scale taken along the line65 of Figure 2 with parts broken away,

In Figure 3 a desk model dictating machine is generally indicated at 20.It includes a sound recording and reproducing head 22, a mandrel 24 forcarrying and rotating a conventional wax record cylinder, and a handunit 26 which includes a combination microphone and loudspeaker (notshown) and a thumb switch 21 for operating the clutch in the drive forthe mandrel. The machine is provided on its lefthand end, as viewed inFigure 3, with a cradle arm 28. This cradle arm is illustrated in somedetail in Figures 1 and 2 and includes a pivot hole 30 andmotion-limiting slot 32 (see also Figure 3). The arm is mounted upon apivot shaft the end of which is fitted through hole 30; and the extentof its pivotal movement is limited by a screw 33 passing through limitslot 32 and threaded into the frame of the machine.

Arm 28 is provided at its outer end with a pair of cradle members 34 and36 which, together, form the hand unit cradle. Each member is pivotallymounted upon arm 28 within a pivot assembly 38, as shown in Figure 1.Assembly 38 is formed upon end 42 of arm 28. A pair of covers 44 and 46(see Figures 4 and 5) are permanently secured upon end 42 and form thehousing of the pivot assembly. A shoulder pin 48 is threaded into anopening in end 42 of arm 28 and extends laterally on both sides of thecradle arm. Cover 44 is provided in its lower part with a member wedgingsurf-ace '50 and cover 46 correspondingly is provided with a memberwedging surface 52. Cradle member 34, at its lower rearward portions asindicated at 54 (see Figure 4), is given a camming action as it pivotsdownwardly upon wedging surface and similarly the lower rearward portionof cradle member 36, as indicated at 55, is iven a camming action bymember wedging surface 52. Each of the cradle members is looselyjournaled upon one of the lateral extensions of pin 48 (see Figure 5)and as a result, when gravity pulls these members to their most downwardpositions, the wedging surfaces 50 and 52 cause the members to approacheach other as they move downwardly. And as shown in Figure 3, when thehand unit is positioned between the members and left at rest, the weightof the hand unit effects a self-energizing action upon the cradlemembers which makes the members grasp firmly the throat of the handunit. However, a slight lifting of the hand unit is sufficient to freeit from the clamping action of the cradle members and to avoid anypossible binding which might otherwise occur.

Additionally, the outermost ends of the cradle members are disposed at ahorizontal level slightly above the level of the pivot points of pin 48so that when the throat of the hand unit is merely pushed inwardlyagainst and between the cradle members, there is a tendency for themembers to lift slightly so as to effect a separation which willautomatically permit the hand unit to assume its intended position ofrest.

As shown in Figure 6, each of the cradle members 34 and 36 of theillustrative embodiment includes a central metal core 58 and a rubbercover indicated at 60. The coefficient of friction between the surfaceof the hand unit and the rubber covers is relatively high. Thus theweight of the hand unit tends to pull downwardly upon the cradle membersto promote a tighter clamping action. All the while the delicate handunit is gently cradled in the rubber covered members and protectedagainst accidental dislodgement. The self-energizing action of gravityis immediately overcome, however, by the automatic action of theoperator in simply withdrawing and slightly lifting the hand unit, as henaturally does when he is going to put it into use. The high coefficientof friction between the parts assures a lifting action on the cradlemembers. The relationship of the ends of the cradle members to the restof the assembly is such that they automatically tend to spread open andgrasp the hand unit when it is pushed into the cradle. Thus the handunit normally is securely held at rest but is immediately freed when theoperator withdraws it.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a cradle construction made inaccordance with the present invention is well adapted to attain the endsand objects hereinbefore set forth and to be economically manufacturedsince both the article and the methods of making it are suited to commonproduction methods and are susceptible to a wide latitude of variationsas may be desirable in adapting the invention to different applications.

As various embodiments may be made of the above invention and as changesmight be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understoodthat all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanyingdrawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:

1. In a device for recording and transcribing business dictation and thelike, a cradle apparatus comprising a central supporting arm, a pivotpin secured in said arm adjacent an end thereof and extending on bothsides thereof. a pair of cradle members journaled on the extendingportions of said pivot pin, and a pair of upwardly diverging wedgingsurfaces mounted on said supporting arm adjacent said pivot pin, saidwedging surfaces being disposed laterally outwardly of said cradlemembers for sliding contact with the outer surfaces thereof to cam saidcradle members toward each other upon downward pivotal movement thereof.

2. A device as described in claim 1 further characterized by stop meansmounted on said supporting arm adjacent said pivot pin to limit thedownward pivotal movement of said cradle members whereby excessivepinching of a microphone placed therein is avoided.

LUCIUS P. PETRUSCHELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Merriam Dec. 31, 1867 Christie Jan. 7, 1890 Johnson May 24,1892 Cochrane May 29, 1894 Hewitt et a1 Sept. 13, 1910 Miller Aug. 21,1917 Sommer Apr.'1, 1924 Settevig Dec. 7, 1926

